NE shows how it should be done.

[DarthICE]

First off an Owner that puts the priority on WINNING. You PAY for a top flight front office and coaching staff. You draft well and build through the draft. You add Free agents here and there that help the team. You cut talent that is on the downside and or just doesn't perform. You use that talent and or some other pics to keep gaining future picks to keep talent coming into your franchise. (NE has two firsts, two seconds and two thirds in the 2011 draft).

 

What sucks is that 'Model' of how to build a franchise is here in our own division and our owner flat out ignores it.

[sllib olaffub]

Oh, how I feel you there, man. That is insane in a damn shameable kind of way that N.E. has 2 picks in each of the first three rounds next year. Not only are they perennial SuperBowl contenders, but they are, and have been over the last few years, getting younger - and will soon be fielding one of the younger teams in the NFL. They are a model of how to be excellent and how to maintain excellence.

 

Sure, there will be those people who will forever bring up the spying - but the truth is almost every team was doing it. Maybe N.E. just did it a little better. They are smart, they are efficient, and they've been lucky -granted - but how I wish our Bills resembled them even by half. Indeed, if I weren't born and raised near buffalo, and if I were to just look over the NFL and pick a team that resembles the kind of team I believe in, philosophically, it would be the Patriots and the Packers.

 

Still, if I'm not rooting for the Bills I just don't take an interest in any other teams. I'm stuck being a fan of theirs, so I hope they get it together soon. I'm holding out hope that Buddy is better than some people give him credit for, that he knows the kind of snake pit he got into here and that he has a real competent plan on getting this team to the sacred land. And that he can really tell the good ones from the bad, cause that'll matter more than just about anything.

[dayman]

When you find a Brady and build an o-line around him that you maintain and pay attention to all the sudden filling other holes becomes much more manageable. They have an identity and they know who they are. Thus, they know what they need to do. That said they've busted recently on a lot of their draft picks despite having many.

Edited November 1, 2010 by dayman

[Offside Number 76]

Did you watch the game today? That's the way it should be done? WIth a lot of luck and mistakes by the other team?

 

 

I mean, I watched Jimbo and Bruce capitalize on mistakes and get lucky in certain games, but that's not "the way it should be done."

[NaPolian8693]

Did anyone else notice that New England was starting FOUR rookies on defense?

[sllib olaffub]

I know they got real lucky with Brady, and that without him they wouldn't have much of their success. But still, they're really great at game planning for opponents, they're usually the more prepared opponent (I loved when N.E. got beat to the point of submission by the Saints last year), and they're way ahead of the curve when it comes to managing rosters, getting rid of players when they still have peak value, when they're getting high draft picks for them. Sure, their drafting isn't always top notch, but you've got to admire how many picks they've had lately.

 

There are other admirable teams, like Pittsburgh, who should be mentioned very highly considering how great they are consistently, and for the fact that they almost got rid of Rothlisberger when he got into that scandal or two - I mean, they have real standards that no single player is above, and I love that about them. Now, they usually have the normal amount of draft picks and usually just find solid replacements, groom them properly, and play really soundly within a system that doesn't change much over time - thus they can think ahead when it comes to drafting.

 

So, hopefully the Bills find that solidity of identity and start this thing right. If we get a real star for a QB next year then I think we can fix our O-line next year, too. We've got good RB's, decent WR's. Maybe find a good TE and we could very quickly have a really dynamic offense. The defense... well, lets hope Waley will help us there, with the drafting.

[billsfan89]

It helps to cheat and have an owner who served on the NFL's finance committee so that said cheating will be covered up.

[Wilson's Ears]

nobody is talking about how "it should be done" in today's game. all teams win games they shouldn't. the point is, new england will continue to win games like this because they know how to evaluate talent and pawn that talent off while they still have value. unlike some teams we know. bottom line is, as long as wilson is alive, this team will continue to look like a clueless mess from top to bottom. he has had no clue for 50 years of ownership. he absolutely "lucked" his way to four super bowls only because he had the best gm in the history of the game in polian. and the only reason polian got the job in the first place was because he was in the cheap to free salary range. same deal as the russ brandon experiment. only difference was that polian actually knew football. there is no question that we presently have the two worst owners in all of professional sports. golisano can't spell hockey, and wilson has always been a cheap skate bum. the guy cries broke all the time but refuses to sell the naming rights to the stadium in his name. that 10 million could certainly have been used for a real front office many years ago. and why was it that polian was fired... because he didn't want to pay him what he was worth. which about sums up his useless existence as an owner...

[Pneumonic]

The Patriots appear to have hit platinum on the last 2 draft classes.

 

From the 09 haul they ended up with Chung, Brace, Butler, Vollmer, Tate, Ohrnberger, Ingram, Pryor, Edelman and Richard. All but Ohrnberger and Richard are starters or are in starter packages.

 

From the '10 draft class you have McCourty, Gronkwoski, Cunningham, Spikes, Price, Hernandez, Mesko, and Deadrick. All but Price are seeing starter reps.

 

So, just in the last 2 drafts, the Pats have added 15 players who are seeing starter reps on a team that has posted the best W/L record in the league this season. This has allowed them to re-tool the team, in mid stream, with nary a downturn in performance.

 

Should the Pats hit on the nest draft, with 2 picks in each of the first 3 rounds, watch out!

[Nervous Guy]

Personally, I'd rather have a perennially losing team than follow the path of those bastards....hey...that's what I have!

[DanInUticaTampa]

The pats* don't make the huge payouts like you claim. In fact, they are against it. Besides the wilfork/brady contracts this year, they are famous for trading away a good player rather than resigning him to a fat contract.

[mary owen]

Did you watch the game today? That's the way it should be done? WIth a lot of luck and mistakes by the other team?

 

 

I mean, I watched Jimbo and Bruce capitalize on mistakes and get lucky in certain games, but that's not "the way it should be done."

 

 

denial.....it's not just for breakfast anymore

 

i agree with darth

[Indy Dave]

Shoot me if you'd like but unless they are playing the Bills or Colts, or unless a loss by the Pats benefits the Bills (yeah right) or Colts, then I am rooting for New England. I'd much rather see them win the division than the Jets or Dolphins.

[texas]

First off an Owner that puts the priority on WINNING. You PAY for a top flight front office and coaching staff. You draft well and build through the draft. You add Free agents here and there that help the team. You cut talent that is on the downside and or just doesn't perform. You use that talent and or some other pics to keep gaining future picks to keep talent coming into your franchise. (NE has two firsts, two seconds and two thirds in the 2011 draft).

 

What sucks is that 'Model' of how to build a franchise is here in our own division and our owner flat out ignores it.

whatever, I HATE the patriots

[Mike in Syracuse]

New England was !@#$ing abysmal for almost 20 years. We used to beat them mercilessly . They have become a model franchise lately but lets not act like they've always been well run and managed.

[starrymessenger]

Don't like the Pats and don't wish them well because they are a division rival. But any team that can impose their will on the Vikings run D when the game is on the line by running the likes of Ben Jarvis Green Ellis and that midget wrestler Woodhead has got to be great.

[JohnC]

New England was !@#$ing abysmal for almost 20 years. We used to beat them mercilessly . They have become a model franchise lately but lets not act like they've always been well run and managed.

 

Since Kraft has owned the team it has been a well run organization. His approach is very basic: Get the best people you can to run the operation. Compare his front office and coaching staff to ours? Compare their football decisions to ours?

 

Do you think Kraft would hire a Marv Levy type to manage his football operation? Do you think he would hire a Dick Jauron type HC and then give him significant authority over personnel? Do you think the would have his marketing staffer preside over the football operation? Do you think he would keep a Modrak type head scout on for more than a decade after a decade of shoddy work? The stodgy Ralph Wilson way is certainly not the Robert Kraft way. That is why they consistently win and the Bills consistently lose.

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

We will see when Brady is done playing how great of an organization they are. Then maybe folks will start to understand that the elite QB is what makes you or breaks you in the NFL.

 

Stop! Don't bore me with the exceptions.

[Big Turk]

I am so tired of this team...defense was so bad the first few weeks, team won by outscoring people, now defense is playing pretty good too with all these rookies stating all over the place and what was thought of as a very weak secondary minus Merriweather and lo an behold they have the best record in the NFL at 6-1...so freaking tired of this team...die dammit...why won't you just die!!!

[Gugny]

First off an Owner that puts the priority on WINNING. You PAY for a top flight front office and coaching staff. You draft well and build through the draft. You add Free agents here and there that help the team. You cut talent that is on the downside and or just doesn't perform. You use that talent and or some other pics to keep gaining future picks to keep talent coming into your franchise. (NE has two firsts, two seconds and two thirds in the 2011 draft).

 

What sucks is that 'Model' of how to build a franchise is here in our own division and our owner flat out ignores it.

In a word ... "exactly."

[T master]

First off an Owner that puts the priority on WINNING. You PAY for a top flight front office and coaching staff. You draft well and build through the draft. You add Free agents here and there that help the team. You cut talent that is on the downside and or just doesn't perform. You use that talent and or some other pics to keep gaining future picks to keep talent coming into your franchise. (NE has two firsts, two seconds and two thirds in the 2011 draft).

 

What sucks is that 'Model' of how to build a franchise is here in our own division and our owner flat out ignores it.

And that's why i wonder with the talent we have in the wings at WR why the bills don't trade Evans for draft picks and to free some more cap , but everybody on here says that's the dumbest thing they've ever heard .

 

But as you said don't pay attention to a team that has won 3 SB's and has been in the play offs all of the last 10 yrs my god that would just be a stupid thing to do !!!!

[Bronc24]

New England was !@#$ing abysmal for almost 20 years. We used to beat them mercilessly . They have become a model franchise lately but lets not act like they've always been well run and managed.

 

 

Once they got an owner who cared about winning, they have been "model".